This Means War
by LusciousNesha
Summary: He's a sidekick to Swellview's superhero and she's the daughter of a recently arrested mob boss. While Joss Moss works to take down the men who put her father behind bars, Henry Hart gets in a little over his head this time with his sometimes questionable taste in girls. Luckily for him, that's why he has a Char.
1. Who's Da Boss

**Who's Da Boss**

At least two years was all that she asked before having to get into the intricacies of her father's very legitimate business. But, in addition to him getting arrested and her party being looted, now, she would have to start being an adult. At 16. She rolled her eyes and pulled into the driveway of the warehouse.

Natalie asked her to be there by 9 am, but who did Natalie think that _she _was? Joss showed up around 1:45 pm, after she finished speaking with those companies about how she was the victim of robbery, and they gladly sent out replacements of their product for Joss Moss.

"You're more than 3 hours late," Natalie commented.

"Yeah. I'm like almost 5 hours late, because I'm actually on _my _schedule. Not yours. I don't mean to be rude, but I _am _16 and did have things to do. Why am I here?" She looked around the room at a bunch of teenage girls, with not necessarily similar features, but probably would be on paper, and she gasped, "Oh my God, Nat, if you tell me that you want me invested in human trafficking, I am gonna fire EVERYBODY!"

"What? No. These are for good purposes. They are immigrants, seeking a better future and what better future can there be than to be able to be wherever Joss Moss is, wearing whatever she wears, and doing whatever she gets to do?"

"These are my decoys? Why do I need decoys? I haven't even handled any business yet!"

"Your father has a lot of enemies. It's very hard for people to accept the success of others and many will try to bring you down or take over, now that he isn't around. You have to always be prepared. Just today alone, you have convinced at least three bosses that you aren't ready at best, or at worst, aren't respectful. Because you wasted hours of their time and they backed out of previously made deals."

Joss panicked. She didn't want to do this, but she wanted her dad to be proud of her, "I will _personally _handle making amends."

"Not without your lookalikes, you won't." Natalie clapped her hands twice and a dozen girls rushed to clamor to Joss. "I'll get with you on the process of arranging the outfits, But for now, I have a spare for you to change into, to match them." _This already sucked._

_._

Charlotte pointed out another Moss Management logo, "I really didn't realize how much legitimate business Rob Moss had around town. I wonder if all of it is a front for his mob dealings."

"Well, he likely felt like he had to leave something to his beautiful and special daughter," Henry said. "Speaking of… Did you ever get her info from Piper?"

"I did not get her info from Piper, because she is the daughter of Mob Boss Rob Moss, who was recently arrested and I didn't think you needed to toss yourself into any of that."

"C'mon, Char! You know that Piper won't give me her number without some serious payback and I don't have anything to bargain for Joss Moss with!"

"You and Ray literally stole a stack of her things. Just tell Piper that you want to contact her to return something to her. If she declines, then use whatever you choose to bribe her for the number. But. that's the farthest I'm helping you with this. She's a crime lord's daughter. Hooking up with her would have to be a bad idea."

"Hey… Speaking of bad ideas - I wanna join the Man Band. I mean, we'd have to change it up and make it hardcore and badass, but…"

"Henry, I'm not being in a band with you to legitimize your ONE pickup line with the ladies."

"Wow. So much for friendship. I'd, you know… Be in an athletic decathlon to impress whatever Sheldon Cooper dude you're trying to snag."

"Firstly, I'm more of an I don't know… Spencer Reid kind girl and secondly, what type of academic decathlon do you think would actually allow you on a team?"

Hearing only the last part of the conversation as they arrived, Schwoz excitedly asked, "Henry is participating in an academic decathlon?"

"NO!" Henry and Charlotte both snapped, making Schwoz shrink a little and make a face.

Charlotte added on, "Henry wants to try to connect with Joss Moss, and I'm trying to talk some sense into him."

"She's a very pretty girl!" Schwoz commented.

"There's more to think about here than how she looks!" Charlotte fussed.

"Like what?" the guys asked. She rolled her eyes at how hopeless her fellas were.

Jasper stepped off of the elevator and said, "You guys will _never _believe who's coming into the store!" They looked at the screens and it was none other than Joss Moss, wearing a blue party dress. Henry let out a gleeful yelp and he rushed to the elevator. As he did, the others saw another Joss, and another, and another…

Charlotte sighed and said, "I can already tell that this whole situation is gonna get ridiculously out of hand.

Jasper nodded and said, "Yeah. Let's get some popcorn and watch!"


	2. It's a Date

**It's a Date**

Charlotte anxiously watched Henry step into the store and try to figure out which Joss was Joss. He didn't realize that he'd have to do that. Jasper was laughing, "Oh, Man. She could be ANY of them!"

"She's the one near the tree," Charlotte said.

"How do you know?"

"Because that's the only one looking at him. That's the only one who recognizes him." Jasper nodded. "I'm curious as to what she's doing here. How did she know where he works? What does she even want with him?"

"I don't know… But, maybe I should go help him out?"

She sighed and asked, "Jasper, do you want to try to go snag yourself a lookalike because somehow in your mind that'll mean that you are dating Joss Moss?"

He scoffed, "No!" But, it was obviously yes. He rushed to the elevator and Charlotte followed. "Are you gonna get yourself a Joss Moss, too?"

"No. I'm gonna watch her, because there are two idiots representing us in a room full of pretty girls." They got off of the elevator and split. Jasper went to ask Joss if she needed help finding anything and Charlotte casually watched, out of sight.

"No. I'm just enjoying the view," Joss said, still looking at Henry, speak now to the 5th decoy and groan in frustration.

Jasper called, "Henry! Look who it is! Joss Moss!" He pointed down at her head. She smiled tightly at him as Henry approached.

He smiled and nodded, "It IS you!"

She smiled back, "And there you are."

"What are you doing here? We don't really get high class clientele in this place."

Now, she stepped closer to him and flirtatiously said, "You made the mistake of telling me your whole name, and I realized that Piper Hart is your sister. I wanted to see if you were as… cute… in everyday life as you were crashing my party, dressed as a cute waiter. She did me a solid and told me where you work. She told me that you'd be a big mistake. She must not know, I like it when a guy is bad news."

Henry smiled, "I'm the worst news."

Charlotte sucked her teeth and Joss turned to glance at her. She ducked, but Joss could see her hair. Not to mention, Jasper was still standing extremely close to the two of them. "Uhm… You and your coworkers close?"

"Best friends!" Jasper cheered. She smiled awkwardly as he reached out for Charlotte, and forced her over by the arm. She smiled tightly and tried not to make eye contact.

Upon seeing Charlotte, Joss gasped and pointed between the two of them, "I know you. You're the couple that stole my Gherkin bag."

Jasper extended his hand and said, "We're Jasper and Charlotte, Henry's friends.." And his words drowned out Charlotte's, "We're not a couple."

Joss looked at Jasper's hand, but definitely didn't shake it. "Henry… You're friends with thieves."

"Well, you know, when you steal from a…"

"PERSON!" Charlotte interrupted Jasper, "Whatever wrongs you do come back on you. So… If we _were _thieves, karma will handle our kneecaps." She laughed uncomfortably.

Henry offered, "Besides, I saw a guy leave with way more than a Gherkin bag. He left with like four gift bags and a few boxes. So, if anybody's kneecaps need some work, it's that guy's…" As though on cue, Ray walked into the store with Katelyn in the stolen dog carrier, still sporting the diamond tennis bracelet on his wrist..

Joss looked at Henry and wondered, "What is this? A ring of petty thieves or something?"

Henry laughed nervously. "Hwat? Pssshht. Nope. We're good guys."

Ray walked up to them bragging, "Hey! Guess what I did - conned a sweet old lady out of her dog's spot on the doggie retreat waiting list. Katelyn's about to be living like a Real Dog-Housewife of Swellview!" He gave Katelyn kisses.

"Did he steal the dog, too?" Joss asked.

Ray threw her a look, then laughed and said, "As a matter of fact, I DID! Man, I've stolen a lot of stuff!" He casually walked towards the elevator and his three employees were quiet for a while.

"We'll… the three of us are good guys. He's…" Henry eventually broke the silence, but Joss lifted a hand and shook her head.

"I'm getting it all replaced, anyway. But, if this happens again, I may have to take action." Charlotte winced, thinking about her kneecaps. "Legal action, that is. It's a crime to steal from someone."

Jasper argued, "Not from a crim…"

Charlotte covered his mouth tightly with her hand, "From the creme de la creme! Or, at least it shouldn't be. I mean, you're loaded. We work in a junk shop… Not saying that we did steal anything. But, if we had, there's karma and also, we allegedly stole from the richest kid in Swellview."

"I looked right at both of your faces. I know that it was you."

"Well, it was nice to see you. We have to go back to work…" She backed away, pulling Jasper with her, vowing not to uncover his mouth until they were a distance away from the mobster's child. He was struggling to free himself. He really wanted at one of those lookalikes, but Charlotte shushed him and let go of his mouth when they were both out of sight again, but within hearing distance of Henry and Joss.

"They're a cute couple, but the stealing concerns me."

"Well… I told you that I'm bad news," he said, smiling and hoping she would let it rest. If Charlotte and Jasper got targeted by the mob, that'd be… quite unfortunate.

Joss smiled, "I can dig it. So, you should let me take you to dinner and a movie, or something. I hope you don't mind a girl treating you."

"As long as she's treating me goooood."

She squinted her eyes and wrinkled her nose as she smiled, "Why do you so frequently say things so oddly? I like it. Never change. So, Saturday, I'll have my car pick you up at home, around 6:00 pm." She opened a clack fan and at that sound, all of her decoys regrouped around her and they left the store, each commenting about how cute Henry was. One said, "I thought the other one was pretty cute!" Jasper wailed towards the skies and Charlotte elbowed him out of her way to go to Henry.

"That was weird."

"Yeah! The last time I got wooed by a rich girl was never."

Charlotte shook her head and said, "No… It was weird that Joss is walking about town with those decoys, like her dad. It's weird that she sought you out and came here. It's weird that she recognized me and Jasper from the party. All of it was weird. The only part that wasn't was her asking you out."

"Really?"

"I mean, the two of you KEPT flirting at her party," Charlotte commented, "But, I don't like the thought of her knowing your name, where you work and live. She's the daughter of a criminal, Henry. You have to be careful. If she were to find out who you are, that could be awful."

He and Jasper began to laugh and imitate her. "Yeah, Charlotte. It'd be awful if _anyone _found that out. That's why we always try to hide it."

She rolled her eyes and said, "I'm going back downstairs and doing some research, for whenever this blows up in your face for you being cocky and unprepared."

The three headed back to the Man Cave and now, Ray and Katelyn were in matching sweaters that he bought with one of the stolen gift cards. Charlotte paused at them, but then shook her head and decided that she didn't want to know. She sat down and began pulling up everything that she could find on Joss, Rob, her mother, their businesses, allegations, court documents, and anything else a vast search came up with.

"This looks familiar," Henry said. "Oh yeah, you did this to that one girl that Jasper dated that time."

"No. This is much more extensive than that search."

"Is that necessary? One of those girls tried to kill you, and one let you off the hook for stealing a very expensive bag from her…"

"Did you know that everything that he had was switched over to her immediately following his arrest? She owns all of the Moss fortune and only has a small team of advisors to assist her with the day to day dealings until she turns 18. She. Is. Now. In. Charge…" She was looking at the screens pretty deeply whenever he made a high pitched sound, like he wanted to say something, but also didn't want to. "What do you mean?" She imitated the sound.

"Well… I kinda saw something that maybe looked like she was maybe taking over… the night of the party…"

Charlotte turned around in the chair, "WHAT? And you didn't tell us anything? AND you decided to go on a date with her?"

"I wanted another kiss, if I'm being honest…"

"YOU KISSED HER?"

"She kissed me! Only on the cheek, but that's because we'd only have one night…"

Charlotte turned back around, annoyed and shook her head, "I don't think that you realize how dangerous this family is! Her dad was so slippery that he continued his business for over 30 years without anything ever being linked to him! If you think that for one moment that he never shared a single thing with his only child, you're thinking with the wrong head."

"Jasper's head?" He asked, in all seriousness.

"You might as well be!" She snapped. Then called out, "Ray! Please tell Henry that there's no way that he can actually _date _Joss Moss!"

Ray sat Katelyn down and came over, wondering, "What seems to be the nature of this quarrel?"

"It's not a quarrel. I have a hot date and Charlotte doesn't want me to have nice things."

"He has a date with Joss Moss, daughter of Mob Boss Rob Moss!"

Ray smiled, then stopped, "Wait. That was her up in the store, wasn't it? Think she noticed that I stole her stuff?" Henry made a high pitched "well" noise, but Ray ignored it, "Nah! I handled it expertly. But, what seems to be the problem with it, Charlotte?"

"The two of you just put her father away for good. What if she finds something out?"

"I think Henry is good at keeping his affairs in order. I've learned to trust him, with even the stupidest decisions. He'll make it work."

Charlotte sighed and shook her head, staring at the teen queen on the screen. "It's not Henry that I'm worried about not trusting…"


	3. On the Nose

**On the Nose**

Charlotte woke up, lazily glanced at her phone for the time and sat up in bed, not really eager to start the day, but knew that she had to. She pulled up today's to-do list and today's focus quote and pulled herself out of bed, to get started on it. The routine was the same - (SESE) stretch, excrete, shower and eat. She generally ate, then brushed her teeth, because WHY do it the other way around? She never understood when people learned morning prep that way.

Anyway, after she completed her SES, she went into the kitchen where her mother was looking a little bit curiously at a basket and holding a mug of tea. "Charlotte, someone sent you a gift basket early this morning."

She furrowed her eyebrows and said, "It's not any kind of special occasion. Does it say who from?"

"Just Joss. Who is Joss, Charlotte? Some boy?"

Charlotte squinted, then it dawned on her, "Wait! Joss… Moss?" She picked apart the wrapping on the basket and found an invitation to a "Clay Pigeons and Caviar Brunch? What?" There was a phone number to RSVP, but the invitation was for today! Now, Charlotte didn't trust Joss Moss and she certainly didn't want to go to brunch with her, but maybe if she had some time around her, she could look for weaknesses and stuff… In case Henry totally disregarded her advice and wound up in one of his inevitable pickles, which Charlotte knew she'd be the one to have to crack open the jar.

She pulled out her phone and dialed the number, "Hi. I am calling to RSVP for the Clay Pigeons and Caviar Brunch at Moss Manor…"

"Charlotte… you can't go to Moss Manor!" Her mother said.

"I won't," she whispered. You know, like a liar. Her mother let out a relieved sigh, lifted her mug to her, then left the room to start her day. After the call, Charlotte went outside and there it was, one of Joss's cars. It had been sent to pick her up since the estate was about an hour away.

.

Brunch was interesting. It was Joss, Charlotte, and about 20 other girls who were simply decoys of them. "Hope you didn't mind wearing the outfit. Needed to have you match them, otherwise onlookers would know I'm me, simply for being the one that you're talking to. And your outfits are always so unique, I wouldn't have been able to guess what you'd wear here." They both had on "shooting outfits," though Charlotte was sure that hers was frumpy on purpose, while Joss was extremely cute. Didn't matter.

"Thanks for inviting me. Is it just the two of us?"

"Yes. I wanted to clear the air between us. PULL!" Joss yelled, then shot and hit a clay pigeon. "You know… for Henry's sake."

Charlotte threw her an impressed grin for the shot, then readied her own gun. "Well, I didn't realize that there was air to clear or that you and Henry were something that air needed to be cleared for. But, Henry and I have been best friends half of our lives. The air seems good to me. PULL!" She fired and hit the target even better than Joss had, to Joss's surprise.

"You've done this before?"

"No. I just have a knack for getting things right on the nose," Charlotte told her, almost in a warning tone. Because Char did not trust her and she didn't care if she knew it… though… being isolated on her property, perhaps she should? She was in contact with Schwoz in case this went South, though.

"I just want to make sure that you're okay with Henry being happy with someone else. PULL!"

"I'm okay with Henry being happy with anybody and I'm not really sure why you would think that I wouldn't be."

"Well, he sometimes puts his foot into his mouth. He accidentally told me that you didn't approve of us."

"My approval means nothing to his free will. PULL!"

"No, but it means something to him. He often taps into what I've come to call the Charlotte Philosophy Guide. He will wonder out loud what you'll think or say before he can make a choice on something. It's intimidating, a little. Knowing that another girl has such presence in his daily life. It's frustrating, really, when I'm trying to impress the guy. PULL!" Her "pull" sounded angry and she almost didn't hit her target… she was visibly upset.

Charlotte didn't GAF. "We're friends. That's a part of friendship - thinking about what your friends think about something. But, I'd be more concerned about what you're doing that Henry would feel like he has to use my rationale in your company."

"All I've done since I met him is try to get to know him. He's got this idea in his head that my father is a deterrent."

"Rich people make the rest of us leery. PULL!" Charlotte decided that was true enough. In an evil capitalist society, no rich man was wholesome and even if he was a legitimate business man, he would have had to step all over a large number of somebody's to amass his level of wealth.

"We're human too. We have feelings. We have struggles, and my father is a good man who ran into some bad luck. That's not a reason for you to convince Henry that I'm bad for him. PULL!"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, prepared her gun and let Joss know, straight up, "Listen. I don't think I've convinced Henry of anything in the past 9 years, so I'm not about to act like this conversation matters to me. What I will say is that it doesn't matter what I think about you or your father, what Henry thinks about you or your father, or what you think I'm convincing him of. The only thing that matters is this simple fact - I don't care about any of that, and you shouldn't either. All I care about is Henry not getting hurt, and that isn't gonna happen, so I'm good. PULL!"

Joss gave her a smile and said, "The way that you said that sounded kind of like a threat. PULL!"

"I don't make threats, Girl." Charlotte shook her head and added, "But I certainly was raised to keep promises. Don't believe me, just watch. PULL!" She called for the scores, just to let Joss see that if what she planned to do was intimidate her, she didn't hit the target. "Thanks for inviting me! But, my ride's here." Charlotte handed the shotgun over and went to meet Schwoz in the Man van.

"How was the brunch?" He asked.

"I gorged myself and stole some stuff from her, for good measure," Charlotte said, "For the emotional manipulation she just tried to pull on me. I don't know what Henry sees in her."

"She's very pretty and rich!"

"Men are so simple minded and shortsighted. Not me though…" She began to mess with something in the van, at the radio and soon, she and Schwoz heard Joss's voice through the speakers.

"I'm almost certain that she stole one of my tea sets! How did she even DO that?"

"She's either toying with you to see if you are like what she imagines your father is like, looking for a crime job, or she's a kleptomaniac."

"I think she just wants to see me squirm. Send her the furniture set, too. She's gonna learn that Joss Moss doesn't blink for bugs."

"Bug?" Charlotte repeated.

"And… send a car for Henry. Make room for us some place nice that even rich people have trouble getting in. Charlotte might be in his head, but you flash enough pretty smiles and shiny gifts at a boy and they forget their little friends."

"Why do you even care? He's a silly Swellview boy."

"He's cute. I like him. I want him. And I don't like feeling like I come second to anybody. Not used to it. It reminds me of that time that I stepped in ants…"


	4. We See Each Other

**We See Each Other**

The guys were hanging out in the Man Cave whenever Charlotte and Schwoz got back. Jasper and Henry were arguing about something, so she tried to beeline to the control panel, but Jasper caught her, "Charlotte! Tell Henry that in this life, if you're eating, your dogs should be eating too!"

"I feel like that's in any life," she said and looked confused as she connected the wire into the computer system. "But, something tells me that this has nothing to do with an actual dog and actual eating, so in clear understandable regular people talk - tell me what you guys are talking about."

"Jasper thinks that I should just give him a Joss look alike."

"This stupid subject again?" Charlotte wondered. "She's not even that cute!"

Now, everyone in the Man Cave laughed and teased her for saying this.

"Right, with her $500 a night facial care, $1000 hairdo, and $5000 skin care routine!"

"Nothing helps! She's not cute. She's not that cute."

"Jealous much, Charlotte?" Ray asked.

"If anybody is jealous, it's her," Charlotte said smoothly. Now, Jasper literally fell to the floor laughing and Henry held himself for fear of bursting at the seams. "She's the one who invited me to Moss Manor to try to intimidate me by shooting clay pigeons!"

Now Henry stopped laughing and wondered, "What?"

"I had brunch with her. Seven different types of caviar in different brunch dishes and bottomless white wine spritzers."

"JELLY!" Jasper yelled, picking himself up from the ground. "Were all the other Joss's there? Did you see the one that thinks I'm cute?"

"They all look alike, so I don't know. But, there was also a lookalike team for me, which leads me to believe that the property may be under surveillance. I'm going to see what government institution might be checking into them and hack into their systems."

"Why?" Henry asked. "I'm starting to think that maybe you ARE jealous." He chuckled. "Char, if I become the sweet little sugar boy of an heiress, trust me you're going to be good for life."

"Don't trust him, Char! He won't even give me the Joss scraps."

"I told you dude I can't just give you a person! She has to consent!" Henry snapped.

"It's the FBI! Got it. I'm in," Charlotte said, but shortly afterwards complained, "Ah, Man. They didn't get approved for audio taps, so I'll have to try to sync mine to their visual." She rolled her eyes, speaking to herself, now, as she was in the zone and Schwoz was the only person who'd even know what she was talking about anyway.

Henry sighed and told the others, "Well… I've got a date, so I'll catch you all later. You'll see me, I guess with Double 0 Most here." He pointed a thumb at Charlotte and she rolled her eyes. _Why would I be jealous? _

.

To be honest, it didn't matter if she was jealous or not, which she was sure she wasn't… it didn't matter because no matter how many times Henry and Joss went out they had to cancel or postpone the date. If she didn't have to leave shortly afterwards to handle business, then _he_ had to leave because his "boss is calling." She was now more convinced than ever that he was part of a ring of petty thieves. What kind of junk shop owner had you on call basically 24 hours a day?

She knew why _she_ had to leave so frequently. She would get word about some kind of crime or some kind of event where she knew that authorities would call Captain Man in to handle. She had to figure out who he was. She had to take him down herself, both to avenge her father and to solidify her role as the new head of the Moss organization. They didn't do a lot of business in Swellview; they just lived there. The reason that the feds probably called Captain Man in was because they _do _live there and because business associates passed through from time to time. At any rate, she needed to find this man and make him pay for taking her father away on the most important birthdays of a girl.

Having all of these resources from his very legitimate business at her disposal, she began to put more emphasis on Swellview crimes. Soon, it wasn't enough for her just to figure out when a crime was happening and make sure that she could be there. She needed to plot a sting, if you will. She needed to be ahead of the entire scene in order for it to work.

.

Henry sat down in front of Joss and she mused at his outfit and giggled, "You have the most extensive collection of plaid and flannels that I have ever personally witnessed. Is there a reason?"

"Comfort and affordability?" He said.

She smiled and texted something. "Sorry. I hope that you don't mind? I've got some business taking place and my assistant may need feedback from me."

"I am gooood." He looked around, "But, where are your decoys?" he asked.

"You know? I left them behind today. I've been feeling pretty safe and my security detail hasn't seen or heard anything to indicate that I'm not. Of course, I still will bring them around for face to face business deals."

"Why is that? Who do you think wants to hurt you?" He asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm afraid of Captain Man." Now, Henry laughed and she flared he nostrils, "I don't think my fear is unfounded or comical. He put my father away, and as you full well know, I haven't seen anything to indicate that my father deserved that. Sure, we could just take Captain Man's word for it, but I've done a little bit of research on him, and he's not even on the up and up. Did you know that police suspected him, at some point of framing a teenage girl for robbery? They couldn't arrest him because they couldn't find motive or proof of it. Once, not too long ago, he and Kid Danger beat no less than 40 Swellview citizens up to protect a rare cactus that they didn't even ultimately protect! 40 injured citizens who the Swellview taxpayers had to pay their medical bills for because _we _pay for Captain Man! He's been arrested for breaking Swellview laws. He's… I don't think that he's the hero that people think he is and I don't know what he did, but I know that he had nothing to take my father down on. I can only imagine was the feds fabricated afterwards."

Henry cleared his throat and reached for her hand. She realized that she was in vengeance mode and tried to soften her eyes as she smiled. Henry's thumb rubbed the back of her hand and he confessed, "I don't think that Captain Man is perfect, but I believe that he does the best job that he can do and I think that if he took your father down, maybe there's something that you don't know _about him." _She smiled tightly. That was Charlotte speaking, she was convinced of it. "Besides, the way that I heard it, Kid Danger is really the one that took your father down. I don't even think Captain Man showed up."

"Good point," she said, thinking about this for the first time.

Natalie helped her with plotting of course. They staged petty crimes first. Lightweight activities with known Swellview criminals, for a few reasons. She wanted to make sure that it didn't look like some new boss was here, like it was crime as usual on the streets of Swellview. But, she also needed to observe how the heroes handled these criminals.

She had to figure out how long it took them to get in and how long it usually took them to get out. She wanted to study their fighting style. She wanted to figure out if anyone knew any type of weakness for Captain Man. She had to evaluate everything that she could about both Captain Man and his sidekick Kid Danger.

Kid Danger was really the one that she should be after, big ups to Henry for pointing that out to her. Of course he worked alongside and with Captain Man, worked for him, even. But, it _was_ Kid Danger that all of her henchmen saw. He was the one who had beaten them up and freed the mystery man who Natalie and Joss figured was probably one of the agents on the assignment. Joss hadn't seen whoever he was and Natalie hadn't found him yet. So they were looking for both _that_ man, Captain Man, and Kid Danger.

In between these juggling of crimes and setups, Joss was sure to have elaborate and provoking dates for Henry. She had to make up for the fact that she was always leaving. Him, on the other hand, _she _became suspicious about. _Why was he also always leaving?_ Whenever she asked around about him; nobody knew him as a criminal, petty or otherwise. That made her leery. Natalie let her know that this life - she would run into a lot of people that she couldn't trust. To just keep her guards up. She wanted to trust Henry. He was cute, sweet, and a great kisser…

But he'd stolen from her before and so had his friends. What if he was planning some kind of heist on her? "I need more intel on Henry Hart and his friends. Look into everything that you can about Charlotte Page, first and foremost, Jasper Dunlap? Dunlop, maybe? Dun-something. And look into the owner of that junk shop. I don't know his name, but he's a shady guy. Handsome, but also weird and not very intelligent. I want to know why they're always so busy. If they are trying to handle their own crime activities, then negotiations should be made. Perhaps Mr. Junk Man doesn't know that there is a new boss in town. But, if they're just some super odd people, working in a junk shop, I wouldn't want to startle them by revealing myself for who I am."

Natalie nodded her head and looked to the gang of Bobs, gave them a nod, to let them know that she didn't have anything to add or ask about from Joss's instructions. "You're wise to do this. In my opinion, you should have researched more before you began dating him, but none of us enter this line of work knowing what we're doing, and some of us are fine with not taking advice."

"There's just something weird about it! He's a fan of Captain Man, that much is for certain. Maybe that makes me trust him less. I'll just feel much better about it all whenever I can clarify that there's nothing going on."

"I can pass by the shop and set up surveillance, myself. I'll make sure that it gets done right."

"Thank you, Natalie. You really have been a lifesaver," Joss said and hugged the blond woman. Natalie didn't hug her back. This was strange. Bob never hugged her. Instead, she took a step back, nodded once to her young boss and dismissed herself.

Charlotte observed, trying to fix the audio. It moved around with Joss's set of keys, so sometimes, she couldn't really hear what was being said. Fortunately, she was recording, at the moment. Something told her that she might need whatever bit of information was exchanged at that meeting. She also knew that it might take her several hours to clean it up and have good audio, though. If that was what it took…"

.

Natalie was dressed like an old hippy lady, with beaded jewelry and flowy material to shield her tools. Ray was in the store with Jasper, talking about something whenever she walked in and Jasper said, "Hi! Welcome to Junk N' Stuff, can I help you?"

"Nope," she said and glanced around, searching for their cameras. Jasper continued talking to Ray, but Ray wasn't paying attention, because he was watching the woman. She was very obviously sneaking around the store, but that wasn't what drew his attention. What drew his attention was that he thought that she was cute.

"Hey, you look familiar, have we met?" Ray asked, leaving Jasper to approach her. Jasper held out his hands, offended, but not surprised that Ray was abandoning their conversation.

"Nope," Natalie answered, trying to hide the tools that she had to altar their surveillance. Whenever she turned to look at him, though - she immediately recognized him and expected him to finally do the same. If he did, he was playing it off as well as she was.

He squinted and shook his head, "I'm terrible with names, but I definitely remember pretty faces. I can't put my finger on it, but my mind is saying maybe I saw you at a BBQ?"

"I'm vegan," she said.

He scoffed and walked off, "I've never been to a vegan BBQ." Natalie looked around and made her way towards the exit. Whenever Ray turned around to ask, "Wait, I'm thinking Hawaiian BBQ, do you know Leilani? Ugh. She's gone." He waved a hand and went back to Jasper.

.

Henry and Joss were on her beachfront property surfing whenever Natalie tried to contact her. She sent several texts, then contacted her security detail to pull her away. As they rushed into the water, like a SWAT team, collecting her and pushing Henry back, he reflexively started fighting them.

In his mind, something was happening, like mercenaries coming to kidnap her for ransom, now that her father wasn't there to keep her safe. In the clamor, she noticed something, before they were able to get out of the water. Henry's fighting style. She knew that anywhere. She had seen it at several locations and she knew, in her heart why her security team wass fishing her out of the water with him. _Henry is Kid Danger. _

"Stop!" She told everyone, and they did. She took a deep breath and laughed, "Henry, where did you learn to fight like that?" She asked.

"Instincts. You know these guys?"

"It's my rescue team. Nat must've been trying to reach me," she said and went to find her phone. Henry helped up a few guys he'd knocked down and apologized for it. She checked her texts.

_Man in the store! _

_Agent Man is Junk Man!_

_Junk Man isn't Agent!_

_I think Junk Man is Captain Man, which means…_

She said it out loud as she read it, "Henry is Kid Danger."


	5. Mob Boss Joss Moss

**Mob Boss Joss Moss**

Joss wasn't ready to jump to any immediate action on this matter. Firstly, although she was convinced, she would definitely have to have proof before just disappearing some kid in Swellview. She didn't have that kind of steelo just yet. A town like this, a kid goes missing and that's grounds to shut the whole town down. Bet it Kid Danger goes missing… well that meant that Captain Man had to show up. "Henry. Why don't we go back inside? I've got a little business with Natalie. You can wash up and get dressed and get ready to indulge." She gave him a point on the nose and turned to head to the beach house.

"I like indulging," Henry said, bashfully. His phone was inside. He didn't really need it. If the Man Cave needed him while he was in the water, they could reach him on the Whiz Watch. But, he checked it when he got inside, anyway. No signal.

He set it down and Joss commented, "I'm having a bath drawn for us. There's dental supplies and refreshments waiting in there for you to get started while I quickly get up to speed on some business."

He blushed and nodded. _Bath. For. Us? She and he? Like.. in the same…? Was it GO TIME? More like HOE time, amarite? Nervous laughter. Why was he nervously laughing in his voiceover? _Henry rushed into the bathroom and tried to contact Charlotte on his Whiz Watch.

"Henry! Thank GOD! I've been trying to call you for… what are you wearing?"

"It's surf wear! But, I gotta tell you something. I think I'm in over my head. Joss had a bath drawn for us and I don't know what to do!"

"Get out of there! That lady Butler she has was in the store not too long ago and whatever she was up to, I know it was no good."

"Okay, so skip the bath, or…"

"SKIP THE BATH!" Charlotte screeched.

"Okay. I'll…" Joss came in and he shut off the connection.

She raised her eyebrow and asked, "What the heck was that?"

"Nothing. Charlotte. I mean.. I've got one of those Pear watches that you can… SOooo… I don't know about this bath, Joss…"

"If you're shy, I'll turn around, so you can get in." She turned around and he nervously looked around the room. He couldn't see a way out. Maybe he'd get in the bath, and just have to try to escape later? What would Charlotte do? She'd consider the fact that I'm outnumbered and if I run, that many people will be after me on an island I'm not familiar with, with no Man Copter here to retrieve me yet. BUT, I can hide it out while they come to rescue me… They don't know where I am! Oh, but the location on my…

"Are you not interested in this, Henry?" Joss asked, with her back still turned.

"Of course I am…" he giggled and stepped into the tub in his surf short set. "I'm just gonna undress in here, beneath the bubbles and flower petals…" but within a few moments, he was passed out from the tonic that had been put into the bath. Joss grabbed a pair of rubber gloves from beneath the cabinet to let the water out without it touching her.

She whistled once and a few of her men came to collect him and bound him. "Search him for any devices that can be traced back to him, leave it all here and throw him in the boat." After that she took a shower. She smelled like beach.

.

Whenever the Man Copter hovered above the beach house, Charlotte read the scans. "Henry isn't here, but his stuff is." Captain Man went to go get it, in case there were henchmen waiting. There were. He fought them off, collected his things and got back into his ride. "We'll have to check all of the known Moss hideaways. Henry could be anywhere!" She was frustrated, but now wasn't the time to vent her furious "I told all of you idiots" wrath… But, they'd better believe it was coming, eventually.

Captain Man, Schwoz and Jasper had separated to go check out hideouts as Charlotte found them and would alert the Man Cave whenever they located Henry, so that Captain Man would rush to the rescue. Charlotte wanted to go too, but she felt very passionately about making sure that Henry was found, before he was seriously hurt or something.

.

Henry blinked his eyes and his vision came in, a little blurry, but he realized soon that he was either drugged or bound or both. "Shwhat?" He said.

"Hello, Henry," Joss said, now wearing an all black suit, with a team of decoys behind her and Natalie with her arms folded, glaring.

"This bath is trippy," Henry said and laughed.

"It's the tonic that we slipped in it that has you trippy, Cute Stuff." She said, leaning closer to him. "Don't worry, it'll wear off by the time Captain Man gets here."

"Captain Man is coming here? You know him?" Henry asked.

"I know that you do, and that's enough for me," she said, turned on the balls of her feet and said, "Lock it up."

Henry eventually really came to inside of this cell, tied up with his arms out and legs down, like he was being crucified, and honestly, he was more worried about ow Charlotte was gonna nail him to the cross whenever he made it back to the Man Cave. What was she gonna say to him. "You were thinking with Jasper's brain again, Henry. You do stupid stuff, Henry. She's not even that cute and you got yourself drugged and tied up! Should've just let her kill you for being stupid! Naw… Charlotte would never go that far." He tried to focus his eyes and study the room. His head was still spinning a little. "But, she warned me to be careful and I absolutely did not…" He noticed an opening in the ceiling where a vent was and began to look to see if he could possibly maneuver his way up there from where he was. "The gag is I literally tried to think with Charlotte's brain, at every turn. Well, I didn't TRY, but I kept finding myself doing that. Whenever you know somebody that smart, you try to see the world through their eyes, to make yourself better. You're not supposed to view the world through… your one eyed monster…" He threw his head back and now said, "Charlotte, if you save me, I promise to not think with the wrong head again!"

Charlotte heard him speaking in the background somewhere. "Hen!" She whispered to herself. Wherever Joss had the camera that Charlotte planted on her, that's where she was keeping Henry, or at least where he was being monitored from. She tracked it and tried to get in touch with the others, to let them know where Henry actually was… "Schwoz! I've found Henry. I'm sending the address out right now."

Schwoz said, "I seem to have fallen into a boobsie trap. I am going to need to figure out a way to get out of here. Go on without me."

"Wait. Those places have boobie traps! That means Jasper has probably gotten trapped too!" She tried to get in touch with Jasper, who was in fact, caught in a trap, but able to reach his phone. He pressed the button, then dropped it though and groaned trying to reach it. "Jasper? Jasper? Are you stuck in a boobie trap?"

"More like a butt trap!" He yelled to the phone and looked behind him at the gobs of bubblegum he was stuck in. "I sure hope this is just pressed and not chewed gum…"

She rolled her eyes and hung up. "Captain Man… If you tell me that you're stuck in a boobie trap, I will lose it!"

"Okay. Then, I will not tell you that. But, if you can get Schwoz to come to where I am for something completely unrelated, that will be appreciated." She hung up on him too.

"I am the only professional in this outfit!" She screamed, grabbing rescue gear. Those idiots in the traps would have to fend for themselves for a moment. She'd send the police to try to help, but Henry was actually in the clutches of a villain, so that's where she was headed first. She probably should go to Ray first… but… No… These are the same people who (not knowing that he was Captain Man) were going to barbeque someone! She had to get to Henry in a hurry. She hated driving, but Henry was in trouble and her heart was beating in her throat now that she remembered that he could be being roasted on an open fire. "Henry, if you die before I can rescue you, I am gonna kill you dead!"

.

Henry took a deep breath and struggled again to at least budge his restraints, but it was no good. He only tired himself out for the fifth time and now, he had to catch his breath again. Besides, they were probably watching him, anyways. He started (now) looking to see if he could detect any hidden cameras and wondering about if help was on the way. Probably not. Charlotte told him to get out of there and what did he do? Get in the bathtub and got himself skin drugged. He didn't even know that was possible. But, what could he have done? Maybe mushed Joss in the face and took off running? But, if she wasn't a mobster chick and he'd just mushed her face and ran, imagine the backlash for that!

_Henry Hart, the Playground Pooper has entered news today again, after pushing Joss Moss's face with his wide open hand and leaving abruptly following a fun date! Like… I need another L this year. My biggest L is not listening to Charlotte. I shouldn't even have been on the date! I guess… I was really just trying to keep my mind off of all the weirdness with her lately. I don't even know if she knows, but I KNOW, so… I don't know, you know? WHO am I speaking with, here? This is an inner-monologue. Why ask 'you know?' to yourself, Dude? And now, you're just off topic…_

He thought that he saw a small flicker of a light in the corner. But, probably not. Charlotte was most likely doing everything in her power to get him home safely. The others probably were doing… well… what they could. Now, all he could think about was how he might die here. He might not get out. He might not get rescued. He might die and Charlotte might not ever know that he thought about her.

_If I make it out of here, I should at least tell her about that weird inception dream that I had where she was dreaming about me kissing her. She'll think that means that I wanna kiss her though, and I DON'T… But… I will if she figures out a way to save me. Ugh. She'd probably hate that. She'll probably hate to hear that I had this dream. She'll probably ask, "Why couldn't you just dream about kissing me? Why dream about me dreaming about kissing you?" And give me the most wrinkled 'You're an idiot' grimace that her face can contort into. _

_Man… My arms and legs are gonna be so sore. I could really use a sit in Piper's massage chair when I get out of here. The things that I wouldn't do to be in that chair again… I hope that Charlotte remembers me a hero, and not an idiot. Why am I back on this Charlotte line of thinking? I need to be thinking LIKE Charlotte to get out of here, not ABOUT Charlotte…_

He sighed and threw his head back again, wishing that he was drugged again. All of his muscles were hurting, at this point and he could simply die, to be honest. He was ready. "I'm ready to die, now!" He called out, to whoever was probably watching him.

"You'd better not be!" He heard Charlotte snap in s low hiss.

His head perked up and... yes! She came through the door and there were two guards unconscious in front of it. She had the look on her face, but he knew that she didn't have time to really give it to him, so she was in there, getting him down, with the door jammed opened, so that nobody could shut her inside while she cut him loose.

"I expected to find Captain Man to the rescue, but somehow… This will bring me more pleasure," Joss said, when she saw her on the camera. "I'm going to go handle this," she told Natalie. "Have the clean up crew on standby."

Charlotte had almost gotten Henry loose when she heard the clacking of shoes coming down the hallway and she said, "It's Joss!" Henry was released enough to free himself and she really didn't want to be trapped in there, too, with all the guys incapacitated, so she said, "Be right back!" And got out of the room.

She saw Joss, standing on the far end. She stopped walking and shook her head. "This was a very stupid thing for a girl as smart as you to do, Charlotte."

"Bold of you to think that I've been working with him for all these years and a little bit of stupid didn't rub off," Charlotte said, smoothly and pointed a thumb at Henry, who was trying to free himself.

"It's not 'a little stupid' it's VERY stupid," Joss reiterated.

"Look, I don't really like to do a lot of overexertion, so can the fight sequence start? Because the sooner it starts, the sooner it ends, and an episode of Titans drops tonight…" Charlotte said, unphased. "Oh, but… you don't blink for bugs," Charlotte said.

"Thank you for reminding me," Joss said and then clacked her fan, which sent a small army of Joss decoys charging at Charlotte.

She reached for her zapper and shook her head, "You hate to see it," she said and began to zap each of them down until they stopped coming for her. By that time, Henry had gotten himself free. "She knows who you are, so you might as well get ready for the fight."

"The fight. It's just her. We can just take her in," Henry said, pointing a hand at Joss. Joss smirked and took off running, Charlotte gave chase, almost immediately. There was no way she was letting her get away! Henry blew a bubble and headed in that direction, too… but henchmen came. "OF COURSE!" He grumbled and began to fight them off as Charlotte vanished behind Joss through a door that shut after she went through. _CHAR! _He fought the henchmen down and went to try to find Charlotte, just in case she was rushing into another trap. Joss _really _didn't seem to like her. But, he couldn't budge the door… "Char!" He screamed.

"Henry?" She called back. "Ummm… This is a trap…" She said. "I think I can make it out. Go around and try to get her!"

He nodded, but when he turned, Joss was right there and she spun around and kicked him in the face. "Oh my God! That hurt!" Joss let out a loud shriek and kicked him again as he leaned over and knocked him out that time. She shook her head at her henchmen and decoys, then opened the door for Charlotte who rushed out and immediately checked on Henry.

"There is more danger where this came from," she said, smugly.

Charlotte nodded her head, gently set Henry's on the ground and stood up. "Yeah, there is. For you!"


	6. You Wanna Bumble with the Bee, Huh?

_As this story was "executive produced" by __ adorkable-blackgirl_ _and we tend to have a lot of the same interests and came up on some of the same stuff, I hope she loves this final installment of this story. Thank you for giving me this idea and I'm sorry that I didn't make it longer, but I was really going to have to scrape and struggle for it if I had. I'd prefer to try to give you something of quality. I luh you Ma._

**You Wanna Bumble with the Bee, Huh?**

Charlotte lunged towards Joss, but her fist was caught by Natalie. She turned to look at her, "How much do they pay you, Girl?" Charlotte wondered. Natalie just smirked and shoved her backwards. She nearly tripped over Henry, but caught herself and said, "Let me guess… You're like a trained assassin or something. You've learned all the techniques and can probably kill me within minutes if you get your hands on me."

Natalie smiled, cracked her fingers and her neck and said, "Yep."

Charlotte nodded, "Okay, then." She shot her with the zapper multiple times until she fell. Joss gasped and threw her clacking fan at Charlotte to knock the zapper from her hand. It flew from her hand, along with the fan, but little did she know, Charlotte wasn't planning on using that on her anyway. "You should've listened to my promise before you thought about hurting my friend," Charlotte said and they heard Henry grumble something.

Now, Charlotte had a couple of choices, to fight or to check on Henry. She held her hands in front of herself and said, "I'll keep them where you can see them. You see if Henry is okay. I don't trust you enough to turn my head away."

"And I should trust you?" Joss asked, folding her arms.

"You have home field advantage and I am concerned about my friend. Did you ever even freakin' like him? You'll just knock him out and keep it moving?" Charlotte asked, getting angrier as she thought about it.

Joss sighed, kept her eyes on Charlotte, but squatted down and shook Henry, "Hey. Are you okay?" she asked.

It took him a moment to focus. He mumbled Charlotte's name a few times, to which Joss rolled her eyes, and leaned closer to slap him across the face a couple of times. He jumped up and shuffled away from her. "He's fine. Look. There's no reason for us to fight. Leave now, and I'll let you live." Henry was rubbing his bruised face and going to Charlotte to check on her. She seemed okay, but he still was in a protective stance next to her while Joss was talking to them. "If Natalie wakes up while you're still here, your zapper is over there. My advice is to get out and try to get ready for our next run in. Because, mark my words the men who put my father away and the girl who wouldn't let me be great are not going to win this war." Joss said.

Kid Danger had a zapper too, but she didn't know that, until Charlotte took Henry's arm and zapped the unconscious Natalie again. "My mom always said 'Don't start none, won't be none."

"Suit yourself, Cockroach." Joss said.

Henry was about to protest that horrible thing to call his best friend, but Joss charged towards her with something that she had just pulled from her hair! Charlotte was extremely angry about being called that and she was ready to charge at Joss, as well.

Henry jumped in front of Charlotte, holding her back at the same time and Joss stuck him with whatever it was. "Ouch!" He said and held himself. "You stabbed me!" She chuckled and tried to swing at him again but Charlotte caught her arm and wondered, "Why don't you give her one of your one hitter quitters, Man? She's trying to stab you!"

"I don't know! She's a girl!" Henry said, watching Charlotte try not to get stabbed in the face with the pointy hair thingy.

"A girl who clearly has some fighting training!" Charlotte said, dodging all of Joss's swings and ducking. From kicks.. Charlotte had some fight training, but she sensed not on the level of this girl. This was some kung fu or something… "Hen! Romeo Must Die!" Joss looked confused, but Henry knew exactly what she meant. Char's mom watched that movie every year on the anniversary of Aaliyah's passing. "Rest in Peace, Aaliyah," Henry said and he jumped in to help her out. He guided Charlotte in directions that she needed to go in and she handled the actually hitting Joss part. He swung her over his back to avoid Joss doing some kind of flip kick at her. He rotated to shield a few of Joss hits and brought Charlotte back around to deliver hers. She punched her in the face, kicked her in the stomach, and headbutted her. Joss was barely on her feet when Henry unhanded Charlotte and Charlotte rushed up to her, flipped Joss over, and pinned her down. Henry rushed to the floor, did a 3 count, and declared her the winner. Joss looked at them like they were both completely insane, breathing hard before she passed out.

Now, Henry extended his hand to Charlotte and helped her up. "That was awesome. You were amazing!" He said.

She nodded her head, "I _am _amazing," she corrected him.

His Whiz Watch sounded and he answered for Captain Man. "Kid Danger! I am on my way!" He said. Henry closed it and shook his head, then he looked at Charlotte.

Charlotte laughed and began putting zip ties on the fallen. "I don't know if the henchmen and the decoys were privy to who you are, so they can probably just be taken to jail. But, we definitely will have to wipe these two and take their devices. So… sorry about the fact that your short lived love affair with Joss Moss will have never happened in her mind."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Should have never happened in the first place."

"And so our hero learns his lesson!" She cheered and gave him a smile. A gorgeous smile of perfect teeth, nestled by two soft and juicy lips. Her face was glistening a little. She'd broken a sweat to fight for him. She hated fighting and she hated sweating. Her hair had gotten kind of messed up, but was somehow still absolutely stunning. And the way that her rescue outfit was fitting her - she usually wore baggy clothes or at least one baggy item. This all black get up with pockets and sheaths was kind of hugging her slender form… and that was actually perfect too... "Henry… What are you staring at?" She wondered and looked behind her, to see if some other threat was coming, still on high alert. She stood up to see what he saw, then turned back to him, confused, because she didn't see anything, but he still looked kind of haunted.

He moved in and brought her close to himself to hug her and she was frozen for a moment, in shock. _Was he looking at ME like that? And why? Maybe he had just realized the gravity of all of this. That he could have died. That she literally had probably saved his life? _Finally, she returned the hug, also taking in the gravity of what had happened, and gave his hair a small caress. Either he had never noticed any such affection before, or she was just in this moment as much as he was. He wasn't sure about any of that, but he was sure of one thing...

"I love you, Char."

Now, she gently shook off his hug and laughed off his heartfelt confession, "If I were you, I'd love me too. You could have died today, Henry. These are the same people who were going to COOK Ray! COOK HIM, HENRY!" That was the start of her fussing at him about how he never listened to her, how none of them ever listened and now SHE was sweaty and got called a cockroach because of it. "And I'm not 100% sure that she wasn't using that as an antiBlack derogatory…"

Her fussing was surprisingly pleasing to him, somehow. He pretended to be annoyed with it, but he realized something whenever she didn't say "I love you too…" This madness was her version of it. Every time Charlotte told him what was best for him, fussed at him when he made the wrong choice, griped about it whenever they came out on the other side, she might as well be singing a song about how much she loved him. It was just her way. He helped to gather everyone up and separate Joss and Natalie from the others as Charlotte got everything off of her chest.

Captain Man showed up to wipe some memories and the three of them were going to go collect Schwoz and Jasper, then hit up a Nacho Ball. Charlotte threw on a mask (the Guy Fawks mask, like from V for Vendetta) as she heard the police sirens showing up. Henry and Ray continued making plans as Charlotte's fussing went on in the background, as background noise to Ray, as background music to Henry.

**.**

"Okay. So, lemme get this straight… You had a dream that I had a dream about you and I went to talk to Piper about it, and whenever I talked to Piper about it, I told her that I had a dream about Jasper. So Jasper thought that I was dreaming about him, and not only was I not dreaming about him, but I was dreaming about you, and this all happened in your dream?" She scoffed a laugh and shook her head, "And why are you even telling me this again?"

Henry sighed and shook his head, "Because, whenever I thought I was gonna die, I kept thinking about you. I didn't think about my mom. I didn't even think about Jasper. I thought about you, and I just think it means something that I'm thinking about you awake when I'm gonna die and rest in peace eternally, or when I'm asleep, when I should be resting peacefully Like… Maybe… It means something."

She curled her lips, "Well, whenever you figure it out, let me know."

He caught her hand and said, "I think… You give me peace."

Charlotte busted out laughing, with her head thrown back, then covered her mouth and tried to reign it in. "I'm sorry. It's just that that was very corny…" She stroked his hair and added, "But, still a step up from "I'm in a band." He squinted his eyes at her, unsure of what she was saying. Did she think that he was giving her a line? Because, he was actually being serious for once… "Hey, Hen… You know what? _I _actually AM in a band." She put her hand on her hip and smiled at him, exaggeratedly flirtatious.

"That's hot," he said and bit his lip. She wrinkled her nose in a smile and turned to leave. "So is my new girlfriend!" He called out. He could see from her profile that her smile got wider. "Um… for the record, that was my way of trying to ask you to be my girlfriend."

"I understood."

"You didn't say yes."

"I said it with my inner voice." She turned around and looked at him. She hadn't really realized it before he was possibly going to die… or maybe she realized it seeing him run around behind Joss, but… she did love Henry too. But that, she probably wasn't gonna say in her for other people voice any time soon. He was staring at her again, like in the lair right before he told her that he loved her and she tried to play off the beating of her heart that caused. _I love you, too. _ Her inner voice said.


End file.
